A small update to the iPhone's software last year caused thousands of phones to lose their cellular connections.

Corey Protin

An update to iOS 8 last September that was supposed to fix some bugs ended up causing thousands of iPhone owners to lose their cellular connection entirely. People also reported that they were unable to use the iPhone's Touch ID fingerprint sensor, which can be used to unlock the phone and make purchases.

It even happened to Tech Insider's Steve Kovach. "I couldn't make calls or do anything else that required access to a cellular network," he said. "For someone who's constantly glued to his phone all day, this was a living nightmare."

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The initial version of Apple Maps was so bad that the company's CEO had to publicly apologize.

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When Apple booted Google Maps off the iPhone in favor of its own mapping software three years ago, the public's response was not pleasant.

Just about everybody hated Windows 8.

Microsoft

Windows 8 is widely considered to be not only the worst update in Microsoft's history, but the history of the personal computer.

In an attempt to unify the design of Windows across desktop PCs, phones, and tablets, Microsoft implemented a confusing tile interface for apps that replaced the iconic Start menu. The changes were not received well.

Microsoft wanted to get so far away from the stigma of Windows 8 that it skipped calling the next version Windows 9 and went with Windows 10. And it did the trick. Windows 10 is a great operating system, and an essential upgrade if you're still using Windows 8.

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The movie industry didn't think much of Final Cut Pro X, Apple's simplified version of the iconic video editing software.

Apple

When Apple introduced the stripped down, sleek Final Cut Pro X and stopped supporting the hugely popular Final Cut 7, movie industry professionals did not react kindly.

"The gist is that many professional editors see Final Cut Pro X as an improved version of iMovie, not an improved version of Final Cut Pro," wrote influential Apple blogger John Gruber at the time.

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An update to Sony's PlayStation 3 turned the gaming console into a brick.

A software bug ended up almost shutting down the International Space Station.

Sometimes a software update can mean the difference between life and death.

Once a year, the main computer in the International Space Station gets a massive software update that's beamed 200 miles into the sky from earth.

On February 19, 2013, six astronauts working on the space station had a scare when a line of code in an update caused all of the station's communication tools to crash.

"We lost all contact with the ground and we lost insight into all of the systems on our ship," Colonel Chris Hadfield, who was on board at the time, told Codebreaker host Ben Johnson. As the station circled the earth at 17,000 miles per hour, the crew on earth frantically worked to fix the bug.

This is the full story of what happened:

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